Contributions
5,553 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD Brexit NegotiationsIf I may say so, my hon. Friend has put his finger on the heart of the question and is entirely right. That is the distinction that it is important for all right hon. and hon.…03 Oct 2019HANSARD Brexit NegotiationsI think most people in the House understand that the Good Friday agreement imposes particular requirements on the governance of Northern Ireland—it is a unique situation. As for…03 Oct 2019HANSARD Brexit NegotiationsThe hon. Gentleman raises an important point. I listened carefully to what my friend Simon Coveney had to say. We must get the mechanism of consent right so that all…03 Oct 2019HANSARD Brexit NegotiationsI am grateful to my hon. Friend for his comments. As I said to the colleague who made the suggestion earlier, I will reflect on that. I think that it would be more conventional to…03 Oct 2019HANSARD Brexit NegotiationsI find that a slightly ironic question, given that it is the avowed policy of the Scottish nationalist party to give back control of Scotland’s stupendous marine wealth to…03 Oct 2019HANSARD Brexit NegotiationsThere will be frictionless trade at the frontier—there will be no borders and no customs checks at the frontier. Of course, there may be de minimis customs checks, but not at the…03 Oct 2019HANSARD Brexit NegotiationsAs a former shadow Treasury Minister, the hon. Gentleman should know that there already is a fiscal border in Northern Ireland. Far from adding to checks, as he will understand,…03 Oct 2019HANSARD Brexit NegotiationsIt is with no little sense of relief that I listened to my hon. Friend, though he and I have talked a lot in the past few days and I knew that that was broadly his view. This is…03 Oct 2019HANSARD Brexit NegotiationsI warmly welcome the first half of the hon. Lady’s question.03 Oct 2019HANSARD Brexit NegotiationsOf course. I can tell my hon. Friend that Somerset lamb, cattle and beef —[Interruption.] I should say Devon, as he represents Tiverton. [Interruption.] He does farm in Somerset,…03 Oct 2019HANSARD Brexit NegotiationsAll the Northern Ireland businesses that came to No. 10 recently supported a deal, and it would be invidious to pick any one of them. I will not be given any lessons about…03 Oct 2019HANSARD Brexit NegotiationsMy hon. Friend speaks with the technological optimism that has too long been absent from this debate. That is the way forward, and everybody understands that. That is what we are…03 Oct 2019HANSARD Brexit NegotiationsI thank my hon. Friend, whom I know to be a passionate pro-European to the depths of his soul. I respect him profoundly for his desire to get on, do a deal, get Brexit done and…03 Oct 2019HANSARD Brexit NegotiationsYes, certainly; I have of course talked to the President of the European Parliament, in which the right hon. Lady served with such distinction. I can tell her and the House that…03 Oct 2019HANSARD Brexit NegotiationsI thank my hon. Friend for everything she does to bring colleagues together on this issue. I do not know whether this is the end of the beginning or the beginning of the second…03 Oct 2019HANSARD Brexit NegotiationsI appreciate that the hon. Gentleman follows these things very closely, but, if I may say so, I do not recognise his characterisation of the response from our EU friends, even in…03 Oct 2019HANSARD Brexit NegotiationsI am grateful to my hon. Friend, and I can tell him that we are proceeding with huge collaborations across the front with our European friends, and I have no reason to believe…03 Oct 2019HANSARD Brexit NegotiationsI can assure the right hon. Gentleman that in so far as such checks were necessary, they would be done electronically. They would be done by UK officials, and they would be…03 Oct 2019HANSARD Brexit NegotiationsMy hon. Friend is absolutely right. The preparations that we have made for that outcome, a no-deal exit—I thank my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster for…03 Oct 2019HANSARD Brexit NegotiationsMr Speaker, they are completely in line with section 10 of the withdrawal Act, and I would be happy to demonstrate that to the hon. Gentleman. On his request for a second…03 Oct 2019